1 Month Old Baby Veiled Feeding Questions

[annefirth12]

Hey everyone,

My friend recently got a very cute little baby male veiled that was a surrender to our local reptile store. They estimated he was close to a hatchling when he was surrendered (unethical breeder was selling them as easy pets at a reptile expo and claimed that he was 3 months old) and held him for a month before adopting him out. Sometime later I’ll post a whole husbandry Q&A with her answers but I’ve been advising her based on information I’ve gotten from here (and your guys’ responses on my own husbandry post). However, he’s much much smaller than my own chameleon ever was and I have some questions about feeding.

So far, he’s been eating very small crickets, Dubias, black soldier fly larvae, and hornworms (really really small hornworms, by hand or by tongs.) Is this appropriate for a cham this small?

How much should he be eating? I know the idea is to feed babies as much as they’ll eat, but is there any chance of him overeating at this size?

Also if anybody has any insight as to whether or not he does seem to be the age we were told he was that would be much appreciated. I attached a bunch of photos (he does not love the camera lol)

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post a photo of him in something we know the size of please.

 

[annefirth12]

Can you post a photo of him in something we know the size of please.

Sure, I’ll try and find a picture that will give you a good size reference. The feeder cup he’s sitting by in the second to last picture is a normal solo cup size.

 

[annefirth12]

Can you post a photo of him in something we know the size of please.

Here he is next to a quarter.

 

[Thatcher]

Beautiful cham!

 

[kinyonga]

Looks older than a month to me.


You said ..."How much should he be eating? I know the idea is to feed babies as much as they’ll eat, but is there any chance of him overeating at this size?"...I usually feed them as much as they will eat in a couple of minutes at each feeding and leave a couple of insects free in the cage for a snack at that age. You will see if it's getting fat...and if it does slow down on the feeding. As it grows you can feed it less insects that adore bigger and in a few months cut back to feeding the every other day and then cut down the number of insects to keep it not fat and not thin.

 

[annefirth12]

Looks older than a month to me.


You said ..."How much should he be eating? I know the idea is to feed babies as much as they’ll eat, but is there any chance of him overeating at this size?"...I usually feed them as much as they will eat in a couple of minutes at each feeding and leave a couple of insects free in the cage for a snack at that age. You will see if it's getting fat...and if it does slow down on the feeding. As it grows you can feed it less insects that adore bigger and in a few months cut back to feeding the every other day and then cut down the number of insects to keep it not fat and not thin.

Super helpful, thank you! How old would you guess he is? I know it’s not easy to guesstimate.

 

[kinyonga]

Maybe 3 months. They can grow at such different rates depending on how much they're fed, etc that it's never easy to be sure.

 

[annefirth12]

Maybe 3 months. They can grow at such different rates depending on how much they're fed, etc that it's never easy to be sure.

Thanks! Again I really appreciate all the help.